LONDON: Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvements retailer, said on Wednesday longstanding chief executive Ian Cheshire would step down before the end of its financial year and be succeeded by Veronique Laury, the boss of French unit Castorama.
The succession plan was announced as Kingfisher posted flat first-half profit, as good weather in the first quarter was offset by a tougher second quarter.
The firm, which runs the B&Q and Screwfix chains in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it made an underlying pretax profit of 364 million pounds ($586.8 million) in the 26 weeks to Aug. 2.
That compares to analysts' average forecast of 360 million pounds, according to a company poll.
Kingfisher had a strong first quarter as fine weather drove sales at stores open over a year up 6.1 percent but experienced a sharp slowdown in its second quarter.
The firm cautioned in July that its markets in the second quarter, notably in June, had been slower than anticipated, particularly in France and Poland.
First half sales rose 0.9 percent to 5.77 billion pounds and were up 1.8 percent on a like-for-like basis.
Kingfisher is paying an interim dividend of 3.15 pence, up 1 percent.
"Whilst our French business saw an improvement in August we remain cautious about the economic backdrop," said Cheshire.
Shares in Kingfisher, No. 3 in the world behind U.S. groups Lowe's and Home Depot, have fallen 25 percent over the last year.
They closed Tuesday at 307.2 pence, valuing the business at 7.3 billion pounds. (Reuters)
